Mini-dewt goes on a rant 'bout guns.

The BBQ Pit
1

Well, it’s been a while… frankly, I’m scared of this place.

Anyhoo… This afternoon, I’m at Canadian Tire with my 4yr old son looking for some wheels. After asking 4 different reps where to find what I was looking for, I’m in the gun section. There’s a teenager wearing the store colors trying like hell to close one of the sliding glass display doors. She can’t do it, asks another rep for help. He can’t do it either. Meanwhile I’m waiting and my son is getting antsy.

So I reach over, push the box of ammo into the rack so that it’s not blocking the glass door and close the door for her. This barely legal bonehead has, in her possession, the key to the guns. And bullets. Comforting thought, eh?

My son, by this time has noticed the virtual wall of guns and is almost in shock. He can’t believe what he’s seeing. He sees them on tv, he plays make believe with pretend guns, watches his brother play nintendo he knows what they are, and what they do, but he never, ever imagined that they actually existed IRL.

In a tone that was a combination of fascination and outrage, he starts pelting questions at the girl, “You have guns? Why do you have guns? What are they for? What are you going to shoot?”

“People,” responds the bimbette.

Now I can tell she’s joking.

My son, however can not.

And man, was he ever pissed. He starts lacing into this twit, “YOU DON’T SHOOT PEOPLE!!!” he yells, “IT’S WRONG!!!” I almost crumbled hearing my little 4yr old speaking with such an authoritative voice. He let her have it for a good 3 minutes too, the time it took for her to bring me directly to the items I was looking for. (You think I was gonna let her tell me it’s not her section? I don’t give a fuck. It’s not that big a store, dammit!)

Anyway, this is part brag, part bitch.

Dumb bitch. Stupid twit. How the fuck could someone that vapid be given a key to a gun display. Sheesh.

2

Uhh…what on earth is Canadian Tire? A tire store that sells guns? Man, you guys have some cool stores…

If your son knows it’s wrong to shoot people with guns, then why does he play “make believe” with pretend guns? And what does he think of his brother playing Nintendo and (presumably) shooting people on the screen? Or of all those people that get shot on TV?

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Anth, Canadian Tire is a big hardware store. I don’t recall seeing guns there (I don’t recall seeing guns much of anywhere in this country) but Dewt probably shops at a different one than I do.

And as for your other question - presumably, the dewtlet knows the same thing that I knew at age four: the people on the screen are not real.

4

Anthracite-

Your not really Abigail Van Buren in disguise are you? Some of your responses lately make me think your a bit of a prude.

I too, at four years old, knew the difference between shooting someone with my finger and loading a weapon and blasting the Hell outta someone.

How did I know? Because I had parents who spent the time and effort to teach me what was right and wrong. They understood that teaching me the difference between reality and make believe are two entirely different things, and I might sometimes get them confused.

They didn’t live in a make believe world where everything is PC, right, and good. My parents thought it wise to teach me both the make believe and real world. More power to them.

And more power to dewtster’s parents. They apparently taught the kid well. He understands more than they had probably imagined. I see that alot with parents and young kids- kids tend to grasp and see things in a very clear cut fashion- and often surprise their parents with their intellect.

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That is so precious! Aren’t 4 year olds great?

Anthracite, like everybody else said, 4 year olds mostly know the difference between fantasy and reality. The problem is that they are impulsive little buggers who don’t fully understand that yes, they can get seriously hurt. That’s why I would never let TinyTot play in a house where there are guns they aren’t fully locked away…I’ve taught him yes, but this is one mistake that I’m not going to let him make on his own.

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Really? But… but… but… TV told me that it’s okay. TV never lies.

Wait, hold on…

Okay, now TV is telling me to eat some spam, so I must obey. Spa-a-a-a-am…

(Dewt, buy your kid a lollipop. He deserves one.)

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It’s all right, don’t worry. What happened was good. Now, as to your solitary realization about the sensations of growing up, you gotta know that you ripped my heart out. BTW… [/hijack]

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::beaming with motherly pride::

MY SON…

and here I thought that nothing of my pacifism and peace-loving hippiness was wearing off on him…sniff…

I wish I had been there to see and hear it…I would have stood on something and applauded…

anthracite, mini-dewt ‘pretend’ plays…but none of his imaginary ‘guns’ shoot anything other than water, or ‘fire’…he runs around, points whatever he is using and yells…“you’re fired!!”…so I usually stop whatever I’m doing and go sit somewhere…figuring if I’ve ben ‘fired’, well dammit, I’m gonna enjoy it…mini-dewt DOES not have ANY toy guns…but he has a half brother who is 5 yrs older, whose mom DID let HIM have and play with toy guns…hence, he has learned how to play ‘cops & robbers’, etc…he usually pretends he is the good guy and uses his ‘guns’ to catch the ‘bad’ guys…

he also realizes and has from a young age, that t.v., nintendo, etc…is NOT real…that we, in real life, cannot do what those trapped in the box can do…stitches across his eyebrow attest to the fact that he is indeed, not superman, and cannot fly…

the guns in this store were very large versions of BB guns…from what Dewt told me…

but I am going to that store today, I’m gonna find me that girl…and…

what the fuck kind of moron tells a little boy that she is going to shoot people???..she could have said ‘targets’, cans, etc…but noooooo…

I’m gonna go whack her over the head with a peace sign…the numb cunt…

SPOOFE, you gotta get out more…use the ‘off’ button…back away from the t.v., SPOOFE…back away slowly…no sudden moves…NO!!! don’t eat the spam!!!don’t do it…

9

Ya, sorry Anth, I should have specified. The are BB guns, just a lot bigger and meaner than the ones I shot people uh… I mean cans with when I was a kid.

They also had paintball guns. :: drooldrooldrool ::

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Yeah…OK. Examples? Feel free to start a new thread about me. :rolleyes:

FTR - “Abigail Van Buren” is so rabidly anti-gun she would have recommended that their child start on a 15-year course of deep, intensive, psychotherapy (coupled with the obligatory Ritalin) to remove the trauma of ever having seen a gun IRL.

My post here was misinterpreted I think due to the briefness of it - that is my fault.

My issue I guess comes down to just how much a 4-year old actually understands the difference between imaginary and real life. All parents I know assign observation and reasoning powers to their children that are well beyond what they actually have, out of love and caring. All parents I have ever met are blessed with children that are “well advanced beyond their years”, “much smarter than every other child”, “able to make clear decisions of right and wrong”, etc.

My response was really one of surprise I guess that a 4-year old can so distinctly draw the line between reality and fantasy. If he can, then he truly is a gifted child IMO, and you shold be very proud.

But can he really at 4 years? I mean no disrespect towards your child, but seriously? Anyhow, it sounds like he has a pretty good attitude and the start of a good value system (obviously from your examples), and that should be nurtured. People should not typically shoot other people with guns, after all.

As to the OP - the girl was pretty stupid to say something like that to your child. You could complain to the store, but it probably was just a stupid one-time thing, maybe a poor attempt at humor, whatever. maybe not worth getting her in trouble, but you have to make that call based on how you felt she was trying to act at the time. Regardless, it was still a dumb thing for her to say.

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Dewt- I would be very proud of your son for letting this woman have it with both barrels. applause

FYI - Canadian Tire has evolved from a simple hardware store to a giant merchandiser of all manner of goods ranging from household appliances to automotive parts and service. Their urban stores are massive. I worked for them in high school and at this time they sold rifles and shotguns in varying calibers as well as ammunition. Handguns were not sold as they have always required a special permit and you can’t legally carry one with you here unless you are transporting it from point a to point b. This requires another permit.

As I recollect most hardware stores used to stock firearms. I haven’t bought ammunition in a long time so haven’t looked to see if my local store carries firearms but since I have to go and get some tools later so I’ll check for y’all.

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Wow. I’m impressed.
Are you sure he’s not a 75 year old guru trapped in the body of a four year old?
Huzzah Dylan and Dewt. WAY TO GO.

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Wow Dewt and Dylan ! I am impressed. Way to go ! Give that kiddo a pat on the back from me too .

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[hijack]
I once interviewed with Hormel and got to see SPAM being made. You know what SPAM stands for? Shoulder of Pork And haM. They have this giant machine that actually cooks something like 100,000 cans of this stuff at once.

There s nothing like walking into a giant, and I mean Indiana Jones and the Ark huge, room and seeing nothing but rows and rows of pepperoni…and the smell…<drool drool yum>

I’ll tell you what, after touring the place I had my first hot dog in years, after seeing what actually goes into them. Good stuff, no worries.
[/hijack (hey, when else would I be able to tell this story?)]

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This is singular refutation of the supposed link between fantasy violence and real violence. Thank you for the thread, dewt. Now if only Al Gore reads this.

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Anthracite, I too knew the difference between fantasy and reality at that age. My father was a rather ummmmm… open-minded European. At a very tender age, he exposed me to violent movies, boxing, wrestling, and soft-core porn. However, he (and my mother who worried about all this) talked to me a lot. They gave me the straight dope, so to speak. I watched Muhammad Ali fight when I was 4, and it did not make me run into the street and beat my friends up.

Now, I’m not the most well balanced fellow in the Universe, but I did not turn into… PUSSY!!! KILL!!! RAPE AND PILLAGE, YEAH!!!.. ahem… Sorry, I got carried away. As I was saying, it did not turn me into some sort of weird perverse boxing serial killer.

Now, to everyone else, as my title indicates, I was there and saw the whole thing happen. Mini-Dewt really impressed the hell out of me, but not nearly as much as that girl’s stupidity did. Dylan, I applaude your idea of hitting that twitlet with a peace sign. As a matter of fact, if you need some scary-looking dude standing behind you and making all sorts of growling noises, I’ll tag along quite gladly.

Now, if you’ll all excuse me, I must go RAPE AND PILLAGE!!! YEAH BAYBEE!! KILL! KILL! KILL!

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…er…

Speaking as yer friend, more specifically your friend who has been elbowed in almost every tender spot on my body, kicked everywhere else, tooth cracked from a headlock, knocked out of a tree with a big stick, and various other fun things, I’d like to ask you…

What did then?

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Furthermore I’ve seen you kill cereal. :smiley:

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Damn. Somehow I knew you’d call me out on that one.

You see, as a child, I did not do such things. However, somewhere along the way, I realized that I was one badass mo’fo’. Yeah. That’s the ticket.

In all seriousness, what really happened is that I discovered that I had this love for the martial arts. And you were kindly enough to be my Guinea pig. Well, that and the fact that you destroyed my knees with those annoying takedowns of yours. I had to avenge that, y’know.

And the cereal murder thing was a one time deal. I really wish people would just let that sordid part of my history be forgotten.